Health experts to test bird-flu plan | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

KATE NEWTON

Hawke's Bay health professionals will meet next month to rehearse their response to a deadly bird flu outbreak.

Health providers, emergency services and government departments will practice their synchronised response to a pandemic over a series of planning exercises.

The Hawke's Bay district health board, along with PHOs, Royston Hospital, rest homes, the police, ambulance services and Work and Income will tackle surprise scenarios thrown at them to discover if their planned response is enough to steer the region through a bird flu pandemic.

The agencies involved will respond to mock scenarios to test if the communication links between health officials are prepared to handle the health crisis.

The gaps in the current DHB pandemic plan will be identified.

Health officials agree it's not a case of "if" bird flu gets to New Zealand, but "when".

It is hoped the exercises will raise awareness of how serious an outbreak of bird flu pandemic would be in Hawke's Bay.

District Pandemic Action Committee chairman Lester Calder said the rehearsals would be part of the planning and preparing needed to survive the bird flu pandemic. Right now the DHB was only "partially" ready to steer the region through a pandemic, Mr Calder said.

"We aren't 100 percent prepared, but I think we would make a reasonable effort," Dr Calder said.

"All we can really do is plan and prepare more."

Mr Calder said although there was no specific budget put aside for a pandemic, many people were working on planning as part of their everyday work.

Hawke's Bay-based chairman of the GP Council Peter Foley said the DHB had been planning their response based on the 1918-1919 worldwide influenza outbreak.

Dr Foley said he would be surprised if Hawke's Bay was not prepared for the virus when it arrives.

• It seems bird flu is not enough to scare Hawke's Bay people from travelling to the Asian countries where people have died from the virus.

Dale Watkins, from Tremain Travelcafe Hastings, said sales to Asian countries had not been affected by the threat of bird flu.

"It hasn't made the slightest bit of difference. There is so much going on in the world that I think people have just decided they are going to travel regardless," she said.

John Bunce, of Cox World Travel Napier, said he couldn't recall anybody expressing concern about travelling to a country with bird flu cases. Bird flu shouldn't be a problem if you choose to stay in the usual well-known hotels, he said.

• Keep your distance - page 3